Battery Boiling Over

[jinman]

Cdawg, you can spend it now or spend it repairing your battery shelf, radiator, and HST cooler lines. My Optima red top was only $112 on sale and I think they normally sell for around $140. I would pay up to $200 in a heartbeat to not have to deal with the front end of my tractor falling off from corrosion. Here are some pictures of my project showing how I disassembled everything, cleaned and painted, installed a battery box, and installed the Optima. Since then, I've had no corrosion nor battery issues.:thumbsup:

 

[rekees4300]

The last battery I got from the JD dealer was $105 so the Optima prices aren't exorbitant. In the middle of the winter when your lane has a foot of snow stranding you from civilization, there's nothing worse than to turn the key on your tractor and nothing happens.

 

[The Haymaker]

While all these shameless plugs for the Optima are nice, shouldn't we figure out his original problem first?

 

[k0ua]

I fought the acid spill problem on an old Long 2360 for years. turned out to be a loose wire on the Regulator/Alternator, causing the Alternator to put full Voltage (about 17) into the battery at times. Caused the battery to boil and actually split and leak. the front end looked like Jinmans. the rust was terrible. I dont know how many times I scraped painted and messed with. A plastic holder/spillguard sure sounds like a good idea to me.
James K0UA

 

[Mickey_Fx]

I have a 2000 TC 40d. This will be the second time that I have had to scrape all the rust from under the battery because it is boiling over. Last time I had to replace the radiator as well. Thinking it was a problem with the alternator I brought it in to be tested at a reputable shop. The alternator tested out fine. I think the problem is that it is putting out 14.6 volts. At any RPM. So yes it is regulating but is that too high a voltage. I have let it run for quite some time and the alternator started at 6.7 amps and now is down to 5.7 amps. Does anyone know what voltage/amperage a battery needs to get to before it boils over?

From both of your posts it appears you have some knowledge of LA batteries and how they are charged.

Your problem is the voltage setting. 14.6V is way high IMO. A nom 12V battery can rise to ~13.9V without problems. Any higher the battery will overcharge and "boil". How long it takes to "boil" is dependent on time, the higher the voltage the shorter time it takes. An automotive alt should be regulated to ~14.25V and you'll find many are set to that approx voltage.

LA batteries are charged with a constant voltage scheme. Control the voltage and the current will take care of itself.

If the reg is built-in there is not much you can do to correct other than replacing the alt. I'd check with the manufacture and see what the spec is for the alt. You may find the setting to be higher than the preferred voltage. If the spec is high, you may be forces to swap out the alt for something with an ext reg so any problem like this in the future can be addressed with a lower cost solution.

Have to agree with haymaker's thought. One should not just through money at a problem without knowing what the cause of the problem is.

 

[barbqranch]

Optima batteries can be ruined with too high a charging voltage just like any other battery, except I believe under some conditions they fail faster and more expensively.

 

[Cdawg]

Just thought of another tricky one that I had to figure out , the rectifier was faulty and was giving the battery a belt of AC current every now and then . That made the battery boil . Don't discount this possibility when fault finding .

I'll check for that. But I think that the main problem is that voltage doesn't go down to less then 14v when the battery is fully charged.

Make sure that your voltmeter is working right. Old analog meters can be quite off.

This is a nice Fluke. I haven't had it tested but the shop said 14.2v while I had 14.5v

I have changed diode-trio (rectifier bridge) on my GM car and few other friends' cars but can not remember once if it caused battery boil over. I bought a battery tester from JCPenny when I was in college. I still got it and not only it shows under or over charge, it could also show bad diode. I wondered if you had a couple of shorted cell in your battery, can it cause the boil over. I'd be taking a battery off of one of my vehicle and put it on the tractor, I then compare and contrast voltage and amp read out with the existing battery. That might shed some light.

JC,

I'll have to look into a battery tester. If it can tell me the condition of the charging circuit that would be a good tool to have! I just counted the other day and I have 10 different batteries that I maintain. (Wow maybe I need to simplify)

Cdawg, you can spend it now or spend it repairing your battery shelf, radiator, and HST cooler lines. My Optima red top was only $112 on sale and I think they normally sell for around $140. I would pay up to $200 in a heartbeat to not have to deal with the front end of my tractor falling off from corrosion. Here are some pictures of my project showing how I disassembled everything, cleaned and painted, installed a battery box, and installed the Optima. Since then, I've had no corrosion nor battery issues.:thumbsup:

I really like the battery box. I think that I will do that as well. The thought had crossed my mind when I bought this battery but I didn't know what size box to buy. I guess I could have just used the battery as a guide. I really need to get the system so that it has a good float charge rate under 14v.

The last battery I got from the JD dealer was $105 so the Optima prices aren't exorbitant. In the middle of the winter when your lane has a foot of snow stranding you from civilization, there's nothing worse than to turn the key on your tractor and nothing happens.

We don't get that kind of snow where I live. 500' up they do but not at my elevation .

While all these shameless plugs for the Optima are nice, shouldn't we figure out his original problem first?

I agree. I bet that the Optima could handle the 14.5v but that would mask the problem rather than solve it.

I fought the acid spill problem on an old Long 2360 for years. turned out to be a loose wire on the Regulator/Alternator, causing the Alternator to put full Voltage (about 17) into the battery at times. Caused the battery to boil and actually split and leak. the front end looked like Jinmans. the rust was terrible. I dont know how many times I scraped painted and messed with. A plastic holder/spillguard sure sounds like a good idea to me.
James K0UA

Mine being 14.5v is still too high but it hasn't caused my battery to burst. The regulator is regulating but I think it needs to be at a lower voltage when the battery is charged.

From both of your posts it appears you have some knowledge of LA batteries and how they are charged.

Your problem is the voltage setting. 14.6V is way high IMO. A nom 12V battery can rise to ~13.9V without problems. Any higher the battery will overcharge and "boil". How long it takes to "boil" is dependent on time, the higher the voltage the shorter time it takes. An automotive alt should be regulated to ~14.25V and you'll find many are set to that approx voltage.

LA batteries are charged with a constant voltage scheme. Control the voltage and the current will take care of itself.

If the reg is built-in there is not much you can do to correct other than replacing the alt. I'd check with the manufacture and see what the spec is for the alt. You may find the setting to be higher than the preferred voltage. If the spec is high, you may be forces to swap out the alt for something with an ext reg so any problem like this in the future can be addressed with a lower cost solution.

Have to agree with haymaker's thought. One should not just through money at a problem without knowing what the cause of the problem is.

I am going to see if there is a way to bypass the internal regulator and then add an external regulator. It is a good alternator. If I can remove or bypass the regulator then it won't cost me as much.

Optima batteries can be ruined with too high a charging voltage just like any other battery, except I believe under some conditions they fail faster and more expensively.

I have not studied the gelcel batteries but I think it would be a good idea to look at.

 

[J_J]

If you charge the battery for several hours, and let it sit for about 2 to 4 hours, does the voltage fall to about 8 to 10 v? If so, you probably have a shorted cell or two, and the regulator will try and pass current through the shorted cell, and boil the liquid. The regulator thinks the battery needs charging because there is a low voltage reading. Remove that battery, and temporarily connect another battery up to test the alternator. You might even try and rejuvenate the battery if you have one of those new battery chargers.

 

[Cdawg]

JJ it is a new battery and after sitting all night it reads 12.8v. As far as I can tell the problem is in the regulator.

 

[Transit]

A good charging voltage range is 14.0-14.3 volts. The higher the charging voltage the faster the battery will reach 100% charge. Run the tractor for 1/2 an hour at 14.7 v and it will be fully charged, run at 14.0 v and it will take all day to charge. Charging is measured as ampere-hours. 10 amp x 1 hr = 10 amp-hr. 1/2 amp x 20 hr = 10 amp-hr. 13.9v is a little low; I prefer 14.2v and run all day without over charging.
I can recommend a Vector Smart Charger Model VEC1097A, excellent charger and a good dose of Charge-it to refresh the plates. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: